Space Odyssey from Abandoned Mining Space Station

At this moment, the gravity well locking device has already been destroyed.

All of the military's ships have vanished without a trace.

After losing command from their commander earlier, their control system was forcibly seized by the station chief.

Those who ran earlier have long gone. Those who failed to escape the first time fled immediately after the Ruler was destroyed.

They desperately need to distance themselves from the rebellious station chief.

Meanwhile, the company fleet is gathering, trying to rescue survivors from the destroyed ships.

Chen Ming deliberately avoided them.

With Refraction's shell covering him and escorted by the Dusk Fleet, it's not easy for him to appear directly next to them.

The remaining dozen or so ships absolutely lack the ability to rescue him from Dusk's grip.

Furthermore, since Cow Herder was just destroyed, the captain's status is unknown, and Chen Ming can't contact someone who can command all company ships.

He simply chose not to make contact, acting as though he was taken away by Dusk.

In response to the company's fleet's caution, Chen Ming maneuvered Refraction, along with the accompanying Dusk battleship, to avoid them and head to the location where the military fleet concentrated after the ceasefire.

Chen Ming intends to search for the special Law Enforcement vessel destroyed by the Ruler.

Brilliant and others disregard such ships, only admiring the Ruler.

However, Chen Ming has his own ideas about this ship.

Refraction soon arrived at the position where the Law Enforcement was destroyed.

The pulverized Law Enforcement has scattered away, leaving only debris like space junk.

Chen Ming plans for Refraction to take part of it. After all, he can't fight a battle with nothing gained, losing Armor Piercing and Centurion for nothing.

But his primary goal is not the debris—it is the escape pods around it, launched before the Law Enforcement was destroyed.

After scanning with sensors, Chen Ming discovered a total of sixty-three escape pods near the Law Enforcement debris.

The remaining military personnel abandoned these people during their retreat.

Under normal circumstances, Dusk wouldn't proactively capture these escape pods.

So, Chen Ming plans to take them all away.

There are two reasons.

One is that Chen Ming noticed a special person inside one of these escape pods.

A person with a different uniform than the others, capable of suppressing a fleet with Chen Ming's abilities through commanding skills.

The other reason is that Chen Ming needs some bargaining chips.

Whether it's for Dusk, the military, or the company, it's good to have some leverage.

This commander would be the perfect bargaining chip.

Chen Ming, after all, can rely on the panel to open all the onboard panels of the controlled ships.

Moreover, welding a steel plate on the escape pods to prevent anyone from getting out is not impossible.

Chen Ming isn't concerned about the people in the escape pods starving or dehydrating.

Because if he recalls correctly, all the escape pods should be equipped with a special one-time cryogenic suspension device.

This special suspension device would automatically activate two days after the escape pod's launch.

To ensure those inside survive in case immediate rescue isn't available.

After all, Chen Ming can't just leave empty-handed after his ships were destroyed.

The military initiated all this, and Chen Ming seeks some form of compensation—these military personnel as captives should suffice.

The sixty-three escape pods were swiftly captured.

Also captured were some of the Law Enforcement wreckage, which might be useful later.

Chen Ming also has two destroyed ships, Centurion and Armor Piercing.

The Centurion is completely crushed, beyond salvage.

Though Armor Piercing broke into two sections, its panel is still visible, yet Chen Ming, upon consideration, decided not to take it.

The reason is simple: he doesn't possess the materials to repair the extensively damaged Armor Piercing.

Better to leave it, let company or government personnel retrieve it later, to see if they attempt repairs.

If repaired, great; if not, Chen Ming can ascertain Armor Piercing's location, with eventual access still possible.

Chen Ming completed his tasks.

Dusk, on their end, has also installed the teleportation engine resonance device on the destroyed Ruler.

Refraction returned to the Dusk Fleet.

As the teleportation engines of two cruisers induced resonance in the fleet's other ships.

Chen Ming's vision gradually elongated.

In the last second that surroundings were visible, Chen Ming noticed another cruiser entering superspace.

And that cruiser appeared to bear Sinda Corporation's mark.

However, they were running late.

No, they should be several steps behind.

If Chen Ming hadn't maneuvered the Dusk Fleet, Sinda Corporation's aid would only have come to recover his corpse.

Chen Ming found himself speechless.

The company does highly value him, providing extensive protection.

Yet ultimately, he had to rely on his own means to save himself.

Ultimately, the only dependable entity seemed to be Chen Ming himself.

Time afforded Chen Ming little chance for contemplation.

The jump commenced completely.

After a dozen seconds, once again, Chen Ming faced the star system that housed the Dusk Colony, a place he had visited before.